Saturday, November 17, 2012

I have swatches of my holiday collection to share with you tonight! From now until Monday at noon (CST), I'll be taking orders for this collection and all previous collections. I don't have a firm launch date for this collection on Llarowe, but my shipment to Leah Ann went out today, so I'm guessing she'll have them available on the site sometime this week. :)

Mystery (smoky purplish brown with bronze shimmer)

I think this is my favorite of this collection, even though it's not strictly a "holiday" type polish. The base is kind of difficult to pin down; it looks brown much of the time, but it has strong grey and purple tones too.This polish is opaque in two coats. These swatches show two coats Mystery and one coat Seche Vite.

Candle Light (soft black with scattered gold shimmer)

This shade is another that may seem strange for a holiday collection, but the story behind it is holiday-themed. It is inspired by the candlelight service I attend every Christmas with my family. When I first wore it, every time my nails caught the light I was reminded of the inspiration: hundreds of lit candles lighting up a dark room. :)This polish is opaque in two coats. These swatches show two coats Candle Light and one coat Seche Vite.

Adorned (sheer base with gold flakes and gold/copper shimmer):

This is meant to be a layering polish; I love it layered over Candle Light. Please note that the bottle pictures make it look slightly more yellow/orange than it really is. It is more gold in reality.The flakes and shimmer in this polish are fairly dense. These swatches show two coats Candle Light, one coat Adorned, and one coat Seche Vite.

The color schemes of these last three shades are a bit more traditional for a holiday collection. :)In these pictures, the jelly base of Bauble appears color accurate to my eye, but the glitter/shimmer did not photograph very well. The red microglitter hardly shows up in these pictures, and the silver shimmer flashed pink. In person, the tiny red metallic glitter catches the light, and the shimmer looks primarily silver with occasional flashes of pink.This is a true jelly formula. You could probably get away with two coats, but I like three coats to get additional coverage and depth. These swatches show three coats of Bauble and one coat of Seche Vite.

Frozen (white with blue microglitter and silver/white shimmer)

This polish is packed with silver and white shimmer, and has multiple shades of blue microglitter scattered throughout.I wore three coats for these pictures, but two coats would leave the white base a bit softer looking. These swatches show three coats of Frozen and one coat of Seche Vite.

Spruce (blackened green with color changing shimmer)

This polish almost has a foil-like finish. The shimmer is a medium-toned green much of the time, but at extreme angles it morphs to a gold green at one end of the spectrum and a blue green at the other end.Spruce is opaque in two coats. These swatches show two coats Spruce and one coat Seche Vite.

Please see sidebar for details on how to place an order, and please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog!

Monday, November 5, 2012

Change to the sale of mini bottles:

I'm very happy to report that sales have been going really well! :)The slight downside to this is that I'm starting to have trouble keeping up with demand, which means I need to adjust how I take orders for mini bottles. From now on, I will only take orders for mini bottles on the weekends (Friday through Sunday), and I will ship those orders during the first half of each week (Monday through Wednesday). Hopefully having this more structured schedule will allow me to dedicate more time to working on upcoming collections and to filling full-size orders for Llarowe.

What to expect in the near future:

In the next week or two, you should start seeing more blog posts than usual. Highlights will be: swatches of the holiday collection, another chance to buy full-size bottles via this blog, and the move to a new and improved blog/website. I can't wait to share all of this with you guys!

Please see sidebar for details on how to place an order, and please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog!

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Thanks to everyone for the positive responses and orders! Sales of full-size bottles are now closed. There will be a restock on Llarowe this week for everything except Bonfire and Hayride. I anticipate that Bonfire and Hayride will be available on Llarowe at a later date, plus I will make full-size bottles of them available here on my blog at least once more this fall. :)Thanks again!!

Friday, October 5, 2012

I have two small collections to show you today, and to celebrate I'll be accepting orders of full-size bottles now through this weekend. (Though there is a chance I may need to close sales before the end of the weekend, depending on how many orders I get.) This post has been a long time in the making, so let's get to it! :)

The Islands

This trio was inspired by three of my favorite vacations with my husband. These polishes will be available on Llarowe next week with the Contrary Polish restock.

Aruba (teal blue with aqua shimmer)

This polish was created as an extra for everyone who bought all six of my polishes when I first opened. It's the main reason this Islands trio came to be; I was inspired by this polish and thought it needed to have a few friends. :)

My husband and I have gone on quite a few vacations with my family (parents, siblings, nieces/nephews), and Aruba was the location of our favorite family vacation. Lovely beaches, perfect warm weather with a constant breeze to keep us cool, and the water... The water there is breathtaking. It's what I had in mind when I created this polish.

These swatches show two coats Aruba and one coat Seche Vite.

Santorini (royal blue with blue and white shimmer)

We went to Greece for our honeymoon, and spent the bulk of our time there on the island of Santorini. This polish is inspired by the whitewashed villas and churches with their bright blue accents. When I remember our time in Santorini, this is the color that immediately comes to mind.

These swatches show two coats Santorini and one coat Seche Vite.

Anna Maria (murky bluish green with complex gold shimmer)

My husband's and my first vacation together back when we were dating was to Anna Maria Island, Florida. We rented a house with two other couples and had such a nice time on that quiet, laid-back island. This polish is based on my memory of the beach after dusk, just before full dark.

This polish is a jelly/shimmer hybrid. These swatches show two coats Anna Maria and one coat Seche Vite.

Limited Edition duo for Fall 2012

These two polishes were a bit of a reach for me since they're outside my usual palette, but I'm happy with how they turned out and I really love them for Autumn.

Since they are a seasonal duo, they will be limited edition for this fall. I just created them, so unfortunately they won't be a part of the restock on Llarowe next week. Hopefully they will be available there soon.

This polish is a jelly/shimmer hybrid. The first coat shows a pinkish orange shade, and the second coat achieves the bottle color of reddish orange. It was opaque in two coats for me, but I applied a third coat to get more depth. These swatches show three coats Bonfire, one coat Seche Vite.

Hayride (tan with gold, bronze, and brown shimmer and microglitter)

Like Bonfire, this polish was also opaque in two coats but I added a third coat to get more depth. These swatches show three coats Hayride and one coat Seche Vite.

Please see sidebar for details on how to place an order, and please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

About Me

All Contrary Polishes are made in the United States with 5-free (no dibutyl phthalate, toluene, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, or camphor) and cruelty-free (no testing on animals) ingredients. The polishes consist of professional-grade lacquer bases, micas, pigments, microglitter, and/or glitter flakes, and they are hand-blended in small batches.